I’m taking part in a group readalong of Brendan Sanderson’s Final Empire, Mistborn book one which is being hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings as part of his Once Upon a Time event.  The following is my initial thoughts on the reading so far which have taken us through the prologue and up to the start of Chapter 7.  If you haven’t read this book before then the following discussions will undoubtedly contain spoilers so please avoid reading any further.  Also, you’re never to late to join so check out Carl’s event at the link above.

1. This first hundred or so pages was packed!  What things are standing out for you in the story thus far?

This is the first Sanderson novel I’ve read and so far it’s proving to be really quite gripping in fact I read the allocated chapters in one sitting and could happily have continued on but didn’t want to get all spoilery.   My first impressions are very favourable – I’m really enjoying the story, it’s been very easy to read with plenty going on to move it forward quite quickly.  I like Sanderson’s writing style, he doesn’t spend a lot of time world building.  It feels like we’re pretty much just thrown in and we’re picking it up as we go along.  I don’t mind this it’s just probably a lot more obvious to me at the moment because I’ve just finished a Scott Lynch novel which is quite the opposite and is rich in detail so I can’t help noticing the difference between the two.  There are a couple of things that did occur to me whilst reading which aren’t exactly criticisms more just observations as I go along.  For example, I don’t feel at the moment any really strong feelings towards the Skaa – this whole element has a definite plantation/slavery feel and although you are told that the Skaa are treated badly and you can see they’re downtrodden I don’t feel at this point that Sanderson is making the most of this element of the story.  So, obviously, I don’t like the way the Skaa are treated but I want to care a LOT more than I currently do.  I’m probably not being very articulate here but it just feels as though this element is only briefly touched on and I don’t get a real sense of overwhelming despair.   And this leads me to the next slight issue I have which also reminds me of another recently read book.  We’ve just had Kell’s plot to overthrow the Dark Lord revealed during which we’re sort of told a few times that the Skaa won’t do anything willingly to assist and that in fact they’ll have to be, well I don’t know the proper phrase, but glamoured or ‘magicked’ into helping – which feels a bit like taking their own control away from them without their knowledge (puts me in mind a bit of the Mule from the Foundation series with his – ‘I’m keeping the peace and there will be no wars, etc, but all achieved by mind control again).  It makes me feel a bit conflicted.  I can see that the Skaa live miserable lives but I find it difficult to believe that there wouldn’t be more of an undertone of rebellion in their midst and even if this isn’t the case, because they’re so full of despair, then I’m not sure that taking their free will is the right thing either.  It still feels a bit like manipulation or just swapping one form of control for another or being used by a different bunch of people for different reasons.  Especially as the group planning this are basically just planning a major heist which in order to succeed will involve them using 10,000 Skaa (against their own free will) in a battle (and let’s be honest people usually die in battles)  that will ultimately achieve riches beyond belief for this small band of thieves – and maybe a brief moment of giving the finger to the Dark Lord but not much more.  So, that sounded like a bit of a rant which was quite unintentional.  Like I said I’m finding this a very easy book to read so far and this sounds overly critical which isn’t intended because for the record I’ve really enjoyed reading it to this point :).

2. What are your thoughts on the magic system that Sanderson is unveiling in this novel?

I think the magic system is really unique.  I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like this before which frankly is a bit of an achievement given how much fantasy is out there!  And, it makes for some very interesting scenes – the fight scene was really dramatic as was Kelsier’s way of travelling over the roof tops – and we haven’t seen all the different types of magic yet so it feels like there’s plenty more yet to explore and I’m really looking forward to it being expanded upon.

3. Kelsier and Vin have held most of the spotlight in these first 6 chapters.  As you compare/contrast the two characters, how do you feel about them? Likes? Dislikes?
At this stage I quite like both of them.  Vin has had a fairly rough existence so far and is naturally suspicious of everyone – I think what stood out to me about the difference between the two is that Vin really does seem to have lived amongst the lowest of the low.  None of the people that she was involved with seemed to care one jot about each other and wouldn’t hesitate to sell each other out.  At least Kelsier seems to have come from a slightly different background – okay, it seems as though he was also betrayed, but he seems to have a lot more people around him who are more trustworthy so whilst he has some reason to be suspicious of people he’s not as sceptical as Vin.  I wouldn’t say I have any dislikes about either of them at the moment – I did feel a little bit, maybe, irritated, with Kelsier when he had his late night excursion to rob one of the nobles – he seems to be recklessly arrogant and frankly he nearly came unstuck – okay, he succeeded but I just wondered why he wouldn’t try and be a little bit more cautious, especially given what he is planning.

4.  Finally, how would you assess Sanderson’s storytelling abilities to this point?

So far, I’m enjoying this.  Yes, it’s a different writing style than say Scott Lynch, but I’m okay with that in fact I like that it’s different.  I think Sanderson has come up with a fairly unique fantasy world and I’m looking forward to learning more about it, particularly what is all the ash about – did I miss something there??  Is this set in some sort of post apocalyptic world?  I think his storytelling abilities are working out well – I didn’t know what to expect but at the moment I’m pleasantly surprised.  This is fairly easy going, it seems to have quite a bit of action and it’s easy to get a grasp of and I’m looking forward to seeing how things develop with this crazy plan.

Thanks for the discussion starters and questions.  I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone else felt.

Lynn 😀